Lada Kalina

Lada Kalina II at a glance

The Kalina II is a small B-segment car with five doors, five seats and front-wheel drive, sold in two body styles plus a crossover-styled estate. It was shown to the public at a motor show in 2012, and series production of the hatchback is usually dated to May 2013, with German Wikipedia giving 1 June 2013 as the date it became available. The VAZ-2194 estate joined in autumn 2013.

The second-generation car was developed with input from Nissan, and the same basic car was sold as the Datsun mi-DO. Compared with the first Kalina it gained a slightly longer body and wheelbase, an electronic throttle and a cleaner, rounder nose.

There was no Kalina II sedan. The old 1118 four-door was replaced by a separate model, the Lada Granta. The whole Kalina line, both generations included, ended in July 2018 according to English Wikipedia.

Where the Kalina II came from

The first Kalina was a long project. Development is usually said to have started in 1993, the name was chosen in 1998 and prototypes of the hatchback, sedan and estate appeared between 1999 and 2001. The name refers to the viburnum shrub.

Production began on 18 November 2004, and the 1118 sedan is usually dated to 2005. The 1119 hatchback followed in 2006 and the 1117 estate in 2007. Engines were a 1.4-litre 16-valve unit with 67 kW (91 PS), a 1.6-litre 8-valve with 60 kW (81 PS) and a 1.6-litre 16-valve with 72 kW (98 PS). In Finland the cars were sold as the Lada 117 and 119.

Export sales started in autumn 2006. When the Czech magazine auto.cz tested a 1.6 sedan in February 2007, it quoted 0–100 km/h in 13.5 seconds and noted that the test car had no ABS. First-generation production ended on 1 March 2013, making way for the Kalina II.

Engines, gearboxes and performance

Every Kalina II uses the same 1.6-litre (1,596 cc, 97.4 cu in) four-cylinder petrol block, in 8-valve or 16-valve form.

The 8-valve engine reaches its peak torque lowest in the rev range. The 106 PS unit, usually listed as the VAZ-21127, is the one to have if the car will spend time on fast roads. Sources disagree about the 98 PS version: German Wikipedia pairs it only with the automatic, while a spec database also lists it with the manual.

The 4-speed automatic costs performance, as the claimed figures from the auto-data spec database show:

• 87 PS, manual: 0–100 km/h (0–62 mph) in 12.2 s, 168 km/h (104 mph).
• 87 PS, automatic: 0–100 km/h in 14.2 s, 161 km/h (100 mph).
• 106 PS, manual: 0–100 km/h in 11.0 s, 181 km/h (112 mph).

Front suspension uses McPherson struts, the rear is semi-independent and the rack-and-pinion steering has electric assistance. Listed tyre sizes run from 175/65 R14 to 185/55 R15.

Dimensions, interior space and boot

The Kalina II hatchback is a compact car by any standard, under 3.9 metres long, and the estate adds about 19 cm of length.

Key specifications: Lada Kalina II hatchback (VAZ-2192)

The estate (VAZ-2194) is 4,084 mm (160.8 in) long. Gross vehicle weight for the hatchback is listed at 1,560 kg (3,439 lb), which leaves a payload of 435 kg (959 lb).

The boot is quoted at about 240 to 260 litres with the rear seats up and up to 550 litres (19.4 cu ft) folded, which is small even for a supermini. The estate is the obvious answer for anyone who needs more room.

Inside, the top specification adds a touchscreen audio and navigation unit (see the equipment list below). We found no independent test of cabin quality, access or visibility.

Fuel economy and running costs

Claimed combined consumption, again from the spec database, is 7.0 L/100 km (40.4 mpg UK, 33.6 mpg US) for the 87 PS manual and 6.7 L/100 km (42.2 mpg UK, 35.1 mpg US) for the 106 PS manual. The 87 PS automatic is rated at 7.7 L/100 km (36.7 mpg UK, 30.5 mpg US).

These are older test-cycle figures, so expect more in everyday use. The simple engines and conventional gearboxes keep servicing straightforward, but we found no independent reliability or ownership-cost data for the Kalina II in English, German or Czech sources, so a full service history matters more than any general claim.

Versions and equipment

Beyond the hatchback and estate, AvtoVAZ built several derivatives of the Kalina II:

• Kalina Cross (from September 2014): the estate with a plastic body kit and a ride height raised by about 2 cm; sources quote 20 or 23 mm.
• Kalina Sport: listed by German Wikipedia with 84 kW (114 PS) or 87 kW (118 PS), 154 Nm (114 lb-ft), 195–198 km/h (121–123 mph) and 0–100 km/h in 9.5 seconds.
• Kalina NFR: the most powerful version, with 100 kW (136 PS), 154 Nm, a top speed of about 205 km/h (127 mph) and 0–100 km/h in 9.2 seconds.

Basic cars came with a driver's airbag, daytime running lights and electric windows. The top specification added ABS, electronic stability control, four airbags, a touchscreen audio and navigation unit, air conditioning, the automatic gearbox and a rain sensor.

The Kalina II was also marketed in Germany from September 2014, after the first generation had sold poorly there.

Safety

We found no published Euro NCAP or IIHS rating for any Kalina, so there is no independent crash score to quote. Protection therefore depends heavily on specification: a base car has a single driver's airbag, while a fully equipped one has four airbags, ABS and stability control. When buying used, check which equipment the car actually has rather than relying on the model name.

How the Kalina II compares with other Ladas

Within the Lada range the Kalina II sat alongside the Granta, which took over the sedan role, while the older Lada Priora was positioned a step above.

Above it, the Lada Vesta arrived in 2015 as a larger compact sedan, and the Lada XRay is the raised hatchback for buyers who like the idea of the Kalina Cross but want a larger car. Outside Lada, its natural rivals were other low-cost B-segment hatchbacks; see our selection of hatchbacks to compare sizes and engines.

For the background to these cars, our AvtoVAZ history covers the plant and its models, and the catalogue lists all Lada models.